AIDS
by quietthinker
Summary: Cindy has the worst disease known to man. Jimmy is determined to find a cure, but can he do it in time? Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

It's strange how the worst things can happen on the best day of your life. You wake up and notice that the sun is shining. You go downstairs and you see that mom made your favorite breakfast. You can actually hear birds chirping and children laughing. And then the worst thing that you could imagine happens. Jimmy Neutron was about to have one of those days.

Jimmy popped out of bed and stared at his clock. _6:29? That's weird_. Jimmy always had to be woken up by his alarm clock. This was the first time he could remember waking up early. He shrugged and went over to his dresser. He put on his clothes and walked into his bathroom. For once his hair styler didn't malfunction.

He ran down the stairs and saw his favorite breakfast waiting on the table, two Belgian waffles that were dripping with syrup and a mug of hot chocolate. His mom was nowhere in sight. _Probably doing the laundry_, he thought as he sat down and dug in. About twenty minutes later he brushed his teeth and grabbed his backpack. He wasn't even stopped by his dad to hear some crazy story about his newest duck collectible.

Jimmy ran down the street, actually arriving early to the bus stop for once. _Man, this is my lucky day._ He stood there patiently with a large grin across his face. Soon Carl, Sheen, and Libby showed up. "Hey guys," Jimmy cheerfully said.

"Hey Jimmy," they all mumbled.

"Where's Cindy?" Jimmy asked nonchalantly.

"She's sick today," Libby said as he put on her headphones.

"Is she alright?" Jimmy questioned, trying not to sound too concerned.

"Yeah, she just has the flu or something," Libby calmly explained.

A few minutes later the bus pulled up. He saw an empty seat next to Betty and eagerly took it.

"Hey Jimmy," Betty said as she twirled her hair.

"Hey Betty. You're looking nice today," Jimmy replied as he smiled and looked across the bus at Sheen and Carl. They were giving him the thumbs-up sign. Libby was scowling at him a little.

As the bus continued its ride to school, Jimmy was actually able to hold a conversation with Betty without stuttering like an idiot. _My favorite breakfast, I actually catch the bus, no Cindy to argue with, talking with Betty! This is the best day of my life!_ Soon the school bus pulled to a stop and everyone got off.

Jimmy and the gang took their seats in Ms. Fowl's classroom. The day went on pretty normally. Jimmy easily answered every question and aced his spelling test. Best of all, there was nobody there to insult him. He wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to miss the competition.

After the class returned from lunch they all took their seats again. After only a few minutes of taking notes a noise came over the loudspeaker. "Will James Neutron and Elisabeth Folfax please come down to the office? They are being dismissed," the monotone voice of the secretary told them. Jimmy and Libby looked at each other and shrugged. They got a hall pass from Ms. Fowl and began walking towards the office.

"This is weird. I didn't have any appointments or anything this afternoon," Jimmy told Libby as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Neither did I. That is strange," Libby replied. Within a few minutes they arrived at the office. Instead of seeing their parents, the principal ushered them into his office.

"Um, I've called your parents to come pick you up. They will be here in a few moments," he told them. Jimmy and Libby both nodded their heads, wondering what was going on. "You two are friends with Cynthia Vortex, correct?" Principal Willoughby asked. Libby nodded immediately, but Jimmy had to think about it for a second before agreeing. "Well, uh, I don't quite know how to tell you this, but, she's in the hospital."

"What?" Libby shouted.

"I don't know any details, I'm sorry to say. Her doctor called me and said that Cindy requested you two to come visit her. Oh, there are your parents. Please give Ms. Vortex my best," he told them as he led them out of his office.

Jimmy and Libby met a few moments later at the hospital. They reached Cindy's room at almost exactly the same time. Their parents took a few steps back, knowing that their kids needed to handle this themselves.

"You talk to her first. You're her best friend," Jimmy said to her. Libby nodded her head and ran in. Jimmy let out a deep sigh and took a seat in a nearby chair. He buried his head in his hands and tried to calm himself down. He didn't want Cindy to see him like this.

About twenty minutes later Libby walked out crying. "What's wrong?" Jimmy asked as he jumped up. Libby tried to talk, but she couldn't stop crying. She just pointed to Cindy's room and gently pushed Jimmy in that direction. As Jimmy walked in he stared back at Libby crying into her mother's shoulder. _This can't be good._

He couldn't believe what he saw when he entered her room. Cindy lay on a bed with tubes connected to her. She was very pale. Her breathing seem ragged. She smiled a little as Jimmy came in. "Jimmy," she weakly said.

Jimmy ran over and gave her a gentle hug. "What, what's wrong? I thought you just had the flu," Jimmy said softly.

Cindy shook her head a little. She stared down as Jimmy grabbed her hand. She squeezed it a little. "Jimmy, I have AIDS," she said in a hoarse voice.

Jimmy couldn't believe what she had just said. "What?"

"I have AIDS," she said again.

"No, that's not possible. You would have known before this," he told her.

Cindy solemnly shook her head. She pointed to her ear. "See this?" Jimmy nodded. "I got that pierced when I was a baby. Apparently my mom didn't choose a very good store. The needle was infected," she sadly told him.

"But how could you just find out about this now?" Jimmy asked, a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I've only had one or two blood tests my whole life. They were both done by the same doctor. He messed up somehow. He never realized that I had it." She paused and coughed violently. "I'm sure you've noticed that I've been having a lot of colds and stuff lately," she said as Jimmy nodded. "My immune system's been weakening fast. This flu is fatal," she said as she started to cry a little.

"How, how," Jimmy started to ask.

"About three days," she sadly said.

"Why did you want me here?" Jimmy asked her.

Cindy smiled a little. _How the hell can she be taking this so well?_ Jimmy wondered. "So much time we've wasted, Jimmy. I've got so little left. There's no point in hiding it anymore. I think you know what I'm going to say. I love you, Jimmy," she whispered to him.

Jimmy nodded his head. He couldn't help but smile a little as he looked down. _At least we can get this out._ "I love you too, Cindy," he said in a barely audible whisper. He stroked her hair and gently kissed her cheek. _God, just do it. _He moved his head a little and kissed her on the lips.

"It's almost worth it," Cindy joked. "At least I can spend my last few days with my family and friends. And my love," she said sadly as she squeezed his hand again.

Jimmy shook his head. "I'll fix it Cindy. I'll find a cure," he told her as he squeezed his other hand into a fist.

Cindy sighed, she had been afraid of this. "Jimmy, you can't," she started to tell him

"I can twist the hands of time and fly into the deepest regions of space! I can certainly kill a microscopic virus!" he told her, his voice getting a little louder.

"Jimmy, you know that you're the smartest kid in the world. You've done a lot of amazing, some would say impossible, stuff. But you can't do in three days what thousands of the world's greatest men couldn't do in twenty years," she told him.

"No. No! I won't let you die, Cindy! I can do this!" he shouted.

"God Jimmy, are you that vain? You can't do everything!" she tried to shout back.

"I can do it and you know it!" he shouted back. He knelt down and grabbed her hand. "You know it," he said again.

"Jimmy, listen to me," Cindy told him. Her voice was angry now. "I only have a few days left. I love you and you love me. I want to be with my loved ones while I still can. I don't want you locked up in some lab while I die! I want to be with you!" she yelled.

_What if she's right? What if I can't do it? I could try my hardest and not do it. Then I'll have wasted my few days with Cindy. But what if I don't try? She'll die. She can't die._

"You know that I have to try," he said seriously as he stared her in the eyes. He kissed her again and squeezed her hand. He then ran out of the room and grabbed his mom's hand. He dragged her to their car and instructed that she take him back to his house. 

Jimmy filled her in on the situation on the ride home. When they pulled into the driveway he hopped out of the car and ran into his lab. He knew that he didn't have a moment to lose.

For the next seventy hours Jimmy worked feverishly. He knew that one second could be the difference between life and death. He never ate or slept. He only had quick drinks of water while he worked. He almost never went to the bathroom. Finally, he had a cure.

_In my hands I hold the power to save millions of lives_, he thought as he ran into his house. He begged his mother to take him to the hospital, which she did. He held the syringe in his hand and stared at the thick yellow liquid inside. All of a sudden his watch started beeping. He flipped it open.

"Jimmy, she's going fast," Libby told him.

"Tell the staff I'm coming and to let me in her room, I've got the cure," he told her before he hung up. "Hurry mom!"

Three minutes later Jimmy burst into the hospital. He ran to Cindy's room as fast as he could. He sat down by her side. He grabbed her arm and emptied most of the contents in the syringe into her vein. _Come on, come on. Work. Please work_. He stared at the monitors. He started to sob uncontrollably as it flat-lined. He was too late. He grabbed Cindy's hand and kissed it. He then brushed the hair out of her face. "I'm so sorry. I failed you. I love you, Cindy. I'm so sorry," he whispered as he grabbed her hand again and continued crying. He looked at the syringe in his hand and slammed it onto the nearby desk. He was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder, and even more surprised to hear the voice.

"It's ok, Jimmy. She's in a better place," Eustace Strytch said as he kneeled down next to him.

Jimmy needed somebody to lean on, even if it was Eustace. He cried onto his shoulder. He was surprised to feel Eustace patting his back. What he didn't see was Eustace reaching for the syringe with his other hand.

"I'll leave you alone," Eustace said as he began walking out of the room.

"Take it. Take the damn cure for all I care. What the hell does it matter? What does anything matter? Just take it and go," Jimmy shouted as he resumed holding Cindy's hand.

Eustace ran out of the room and back to his mansion. He would soon become the most renowned and revered scientist in the world. Jimmy would never even challenge him about the circumstances of coming across the vaccine.

"I'm so sorry," he continued muttering. He just lay there, holding her hand and crying until the hospital staff took him away.


End file.
